April 23, 2024, 12:46 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
For a few weeks now, Google has been testing the first beta versions of Android 15. The operating system introduces a number of innovations, including a feature that allows users to read the status of their smartphone’s storage.
Smartphone storage, like computer SSDs, has a limited number of write cycles before becoming prone to errors. Until now, users have had no way to know when this point is reached. A diagnostic tool for storage status in Android 15 aims to change that.
Google Plans Brand-New ‘Device Diagnostic’ App
At the end of 2023, Google promised seven years of OS updates for new Pixel smartphones. Other Android manufacturers make similar software support promises. Another question is whether the hardware will last that long. The built-in battery, as well as the storage, are components with a limited lifespan. Android 15 aims to make this visible to users.
Google had publicly tested the display of battery status but then removed it in a beta update of Android 14. According to “Android Authority,” the feature is expected to appear with the launch of the Pixel 8a in mid-May. In this regard, Apple is far ahead of Google. iPhones have been displaying information such as the maximum capacity of the built-in battery since iOS 11.3 in 2018.
However, Android 15 could be the first smartphone operating system to also display the status of the built-in storage. Battery and storage status are to appear in a new ‘Device Diagnostics’ app. For this purpose, Google has developed an application programming interface (API) that accesses information Android already reads. The API provides “the remaining lifespan of the internal storage as an integer percentage.” This percentage indicates how much of the storage’s original lifespan remains.
Storage Feature in Android 15 Not Available for All Devices
According to “Android Authority,” the change is not yet found in the open-source version of Android (AOSP). However, it is already integrated into Android 15 Beta 1–Google’s internal version of Android–as indicated by the code changes. The beta is only available for selected Pixel smartphones.
A bug report on the Android developer site Google Git also suggests that only Pixel smartphones with Android 15 will actually get the full functionality of the storage tool. Only here will the lifespan appear in 1-percent increments. Other Android smartphones will only show 10-percent increments, which is significantly less useful. Whether the storage API is supported at all depends on the individual Android manufacturers. If the API cannot read the information, it outputs the value -1, indicating that the feature is not available.